Nijmegen

If you are suspected of social security fraud in the once progressive city of Nijmegen, you might get your very own camera, pointed directly at your front door, so the municipal fraud detection squad can better keep an eye on you. It would appear from these documents that this has already been approved by the city council and the CBP (our data protection authority / Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragter). Who probably feel wonderful about themselves for getting Nijmegen to only use it if they feel it’s really really necessary, and to make sure there’s a “separate decision” made before using the camera at night.

Words fail me. That is: words suitable for this polite blog fail me. I bet this will quickly catch on in other places and for a range of other suspected offences. Now there’s probably still some theoretical way for this all to not end where I think it will end, but you’ll have to excuse me for not seeing it right now. Also do note how it will be some time before this level of privacy intrusion is deemed suitable for people suspected of defrauding society of 10.000 or 100.000 times more while working at a large bank.

Governments all over the world feel that power and trust is slipping away from them and this is their response. Oppression of and spying on their people. It is high time for a fundamental debate about the justification of the role and the power of the governments (and multinationals).
Why did they sell our common interests to the multinationals and the financial elite? Did we authorize them to do so? If so, did we get objective information about the proces? Or did they sell it to us as a ‘win/win’ situation? And now that the system has failed miserably, who is responsible? Who pays the price?
We are suffering a major ‘tragedy of the commons’. Each government/multinational puts its petty, petty selfcentered interests first, ignoring the overall interests. Problem is that these petty interests of all parties involved – national governments, financial elite, (CEO’s of) multinationals, institutional investors – are so much intertwined, that no individual ‘player’ is able to change this.

That is where we the people come in. But we the people are no longer heard by the vested powers.
That is why I’m building a website, to
1) give people a voice;
2) show what is really happening in the world, how inefficient and ineffective the world is run, how we are consistently lied to;
3) show how many green, sustainable, simple, alternatives there are, which are now simply sidelined by the powers that be;
4) create a platform where we can exchange ideas 5) brainstorm on how to create a whole new system. A simple system where it is no longer necessary or possible to acquire a lot of money or power. Practically all problems in the world are caused by the massive inequality. Inequality in the distribution of income, power, wealth and food.
I have no blueprint, I’m no new Marx or Lenin, this has to be something of us the people. Truth is, there are many many people, NGO’s and scientists with briljant innovative, durable, green alternative products, production processes and solutions who are simply ignored by the powers that be.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” John F. Kennedy, 1962

Dear mr Gonggrijp/dear Rop, I admire your free spirit and independent thinking. I’ve been trying to contact you for advice, but you are a very elusive person. Which I do understand considering the circumstances. Point is, I am stuck. On technical matters but most of all on how to handle the size of it. Allthough we have never met, I have great trust in your thinking and in your integrity. Please contact me.
Evelien van de Sande Bakhuijzen, a very concerned worldcitizen